Breaking News English

WARM-UPS

1. SERBIA: Walk around the class and talk to other students about Serbia. Change partners often. After you finish, sit with your partner(s) and share your findings.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

security forces / fugitives / Interpol / ethnic cleansing / judges / celebrating / arrests / congratulating / praise / thanks / mass graves / historic moments / milestones

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. OPINIONS: Do you agree with these opinions? Talk about them with your partner(s). Change partners and share what you talked about.

• The capture of Radovan Karadzic is important for everyone in the Balkans.
• Radovan Karadzic should be tried in Serbia, not in The Hague.
• The Balkan Wars ended a long time ago. Radovan Karadzic should be set free.
• There are war criminals who are leaders of their countries who should be arrested.
• Radovan Karadzic should spend the rest of his life in prison.
• Even if Radovan Karadzic is put to death, it won’t change anything in the Balkans.

4. ON THE RUN: What would you do if you were on the run? Talk about the items below. Discuss your ideas with your partner(s).

place to hide family and friends disguise money

new life police travelling around passport

5. HEADLINE PREDICTION: With your partner(s), use the words in the “Chat” activity above to predict what the news article will be about. Once you have your story, change partners and share them. Who was closest to the real story?

6. ARREST: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word ‘arrest’. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):

a.	Radovan Karadzic was captured after 30 years on the run.	T / F
b.	Radovan Karadzic was one of Interpol’s most wanted fugitives.	T / F
c.	Karadzic is accused of personally killing 8,000 Muslims.	T / F
d.	Thousands of Serbs celebrated in the streets upon hearing the news.	T / F
e.	The US government criticized Serbia’s government over the arrest.	T / F
f.	A mother said people might start revealing the whereabouts of graves.	T / F
g.	The UN General Secretary said justice had been fully done.	T / F
h.	Radovan Karadzic’s partner in crime is still on the loose.	T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:

1.	captured	a.	partner in crime
2	masterminding	b.	ex-
3.	genocide	c.	partied
4.	former	d.	telling
5.	celebrated	e.	caught
6.	congratulated	f.	horrors
7.	revealing	g.	sent one’s best wishes
8.	atrocities	h.	planning
9.	sidekick	i.	watershed
10.	milestone	j.	mass murder

3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):

1.	international	a.	by Serbian troops
2	ethnic	b.	celebrated in the streets
3.	8,000 Bosnian Muslims were massacred	c.	have been arrested
4.	in accordance with	d.	Serbia’s government
5.	Bosnian Muslims	e.	fugitive
6.	the European Union congratulated	f.	moment
7.	added their praise	g.	cleansing
8.	a historic	h.	and thanks
9.	He said justice	i.	the law
10.	all fugitives	j.	would not be fully done

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

Serbian security __________ have captured Radovan Karadzic, the international fugitive who had been on the __________ for almost 13 years. Karadzic was on Interpol’s most wanted __________ for masterminding ethnic cleansing during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. He is __________ of organizing the genocide in the town of Srebrenica when 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were massacred by Serbian troops. A representative from Serbian President Boris Tadic said: "Karadzic was brought to the investigative __________ of the War Crimes Court in Belgrade, in accordance with the __________ on cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the __________ Yugoslavia." Thousands of Bosnian Muslims celebrated in the streets on Monday night at the __________ of Karadzic’s arrest.		former list judge forces news accused run law
The United States and the European Union congratulated Serbia’s government on the __________ of Karadzic. The association representing the mothers of those __________ in Srebrenica also added their praise and __________. One mother said: "I hope that people who had to keep __________ because of Karadzic will start revealing the locations of mass graves and let us find the truth about our __________ ones". UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also welcomed the news, saying it was "a historic __________ for the victims" of the atrocities. He said justice would not be fully done until Karadzic’s sidekick Ratko Mladic had also been __________. "While this is an important milestone, the work of the International Tribunal will not be __________ until all fugitives have been arrested and tried," he said.		caught  thanks loved capture complete quiet killed moment

LISTENING:  Listen and fill in the spaces.

Serbian __________________ captured Radovan Karadzic, the international fugitive who had _______________ for almost 13 years. Karadzic was on Interpol’s most wanted list _______________ ethnic cleansing during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. He is accused of organizing the genocide _______________ Srebrenica when 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were massacred by Serbian troops. A representative from Serbian President Boris Tadic said: "Karadzic _________________ investigative judge of the War Crimes Court in Belgrade, in accordance with the law on cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal _______________ Yugoslavia." Thousands of Bosnian Muslims celebrated in the streets on Monday _________________ Karadzic’s arrest.

The United States and the European Union congratulated Serbia’s government _______________ Karadzic. The association representing the mothers of those killed in Srebrenica also _______________ and thanks. One mother said: "I hope that people who _________________ because of Karadzic will start revealing the _______________ graves and let us find the truth about our loved ones". UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also welcomed the news, saying it was "a _______________ for the victims" of the atrocities. He said justice would not _______________ until Karadzic’s sidekick Ratko Mladic had also been caught. "While this is an important milestone, the work of the International Tribunal will not be complete until all fugitives have been _______________," he said.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘security’ and ‘force’.

security

force

• Share your findings with your partners.

• Make questions using the words you found.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

• Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
• Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

forces run 1990s 8,000 judge streets

mothers praise quiet historic sidekick complete

STUDENT WAR CRIMES SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about war crimes in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

	STUDENT 1 _____________	STUDENT 2 _____________	STUDENT 3 _____________
Q.1.
Q.2.
Q.3.
Q.4.
Q.5.

• Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
• Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

WAR CRIMES DISCUSSION

STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)	What did you think when you read the headline?
b)	What springs to mind when you hear the phrase ‘war crime’?
c)	What do you know about Radovan Karadzic?
d)	How do you think someone can stay on the run for 13 years?
e)	What do you think the punishment should be for war crimes?
f)	Do you think Radovan Karadzic’s capture will change anything in Serbia?
g)	What do you know about the Balkan Wars during the 1990s?
h)	What is a war crime?
i)	Have you ever celebrated in the streets?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)	Did you like reading this article?
b)	What does the capture of Radovan Karadzic do for Serbia’s international reputation?
c)	What other war criminals do you think should be tried?
d)	How historic is the capture of Radovan Karadzic?
e)	Do you think Radovan Karadzic’s sidekick Ratko Mladic will be caught soon?
f)	Do you think Bosnians and Serbs will have the same feeling over Radovan Karadzic’s capture?
g)	Do you think justice will be fully done once Ratko Mladic is caught?
h)	What questions would you like to ask Radovan Karadzic?
i)	Did you like this discussion?

LANGUAGE

Serbian security (1) _____ have captured Radovan Karadzic, the international fugitive who had been on the (2) _____ for almost 13 years. Karadzic was on Interpol’s most wanted list for masterminding ethnic (3) _____ during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. He is accused of organizing the genocide in the town of Srebrenica when 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were massacred (4) _____ Serbian troops. A representative from Serbian President Boris Tadic said: "Karadzic was brought to the investigative judge of the War Crimes Court in Belgrade, in accordance with the law (5) _____ cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia." Thousands of Bosnian Muslims (6) _____ in the streets on Monday night at the news of Karadzic’s arrest.

The United States and the European Union congratulated Serbia’s government (7) _____ the capture of Karadzic. The association representing the mothers of (8) _____ killed in Srebrenica also added their praise and thanks. One mother said: "I hope that people who had to (9) _____ quiet because of Karadzic will start revealing the locations of mass graves and let us find the (10) _____ about our loved ones". UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also welcomed the news, saying it was "a historic moment for the victims" of the atrocities. He said justice would not be (11) _____ done until Karadzic’s sidekick Ratko Mladic had also been caught. "While this is an important milestone, the work of the International Tribunal will not be complete until all fugitives have been arrested and (12) _____," he said.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.	(a)	forcing	(b)	forced	(c)	force	(d)	forces
2.	(a)	run	(b)	running	(c)	runs	(d)	ran
3.	(a)	cleaning	(b)	cleansing	(c)	cleansed	(d)	cleaner
4.	(a)	with	(b)	for	(c)	by	(d)	to
5.	(a)	of	(b)	on	(c)	in	(d)	at
6.	(a)	celebrates	(b)	celebrated	(c)	celebration	(d)	celebrate
7.	(a)	by	(b)	off	(c)	in	(d)	on
8.	(a)	those	(b)	them	(c)	that	(d)	these
9.	(a)	get	(b)	keep	(c)	take	(d)	make
10.	(a)	truce	(b)	truly	(c)	true	(d)	truth
11.	(a)	full-size	(b)	fullest	(c)	fully	(d)	full
12.	(a)	tried	(b)	tiered	(c)	tired	(d)	triad

WRITING: 

Write about war crimes for 10 minutes. Correct your partner’s paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

 ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a. F

b. T

c. F

d. F

e. F

f. T

g. F

h. T

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.	captured	a.	caught
2	masterminding	b.	planning
3.	genocide	c.	mass murder
4.	former	d.	ex-
5.	celebrated	e.	partied
6.	congratulated	f.	sent one’s best wishes
7.	revealing	g.	telling
8.	atrocities	h.	horrors
9.	sidekick	i.	partner in crime
10.	milestone	j.	watershed

PHRASE MATCH:

1.	international	a.	fugitive
2	ethnic	b.	cleansing
3.	8,000 Bosnian Muslims were massacred	c.	by Serbian troops
4.	in accordance with	d.	the law
5.	Bosnian Muslims	e.	celebrated in the streets
6.	the European Union congratulated	f.	Serbia’s government
7.	added their praise	g.	and thanks
8.	a historic	h.	moment
9.	He said justice	i.	would not be fully done
10.	all fugitives	j.	have been arrested

GAP FILL:

Radovan Karadzic captured in Serbia

Serbian security forces have captured Radovan Karadzic, the international fugitive who had been on the run for almost 13 years. Karadzic was on Interpol’s most wanted list for masterminding ethnic cleansing during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s. He is accused of organizing the genocide in the town of Srebrenica when 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were massacred by Serbian troops. A representative from Serbian President Boris Tadic said: "Karadzic was brought to the investigative judge of the War Crimes Court in Belgrade, in accordance with the law on cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia." Thousands of Bosnian Muslims celebrated in the streets on Monday night at the news of Karadzic’s arrest.

The United States and the European Union congratulated Serbia’s government on the capture of Karadzic. The association representing the mothers of those killed in Srebrenica also added their praise and thanks. One mother said: "I hope that people who had to keep quiet because of Karadzic will start revealing the locations of mass graves and let us find the truth about our loved ones". UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also welcomed the news, saying it was "a historic moment for the victims" of the atrocities. He said justice would not be fully done until Karadzic’s sidekick Ratko Mladic had also been caught. "While this is an important milestone, the work of the International Tribunal will not be complete until all fugitives have been arrested and tried," he said.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - d

2 - a

3 - b

4 - c

5 - c

6 - b

7 - d

8 - a

9 - b

10 - d

11 - c

12 - a

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